4, 3, 2, 1 …LIFT OFF!

O3b was founded with a vision that access to high speed connectivity was a right not a privilege. With this launch successfully completed, we are moving from vision to reality." Steve Collar, O3b's CEO

I am thrilled to announce that the latest additions to our state-of-the-art satellite constellation have joined their siblings in orbit! It is hard to capture the range of emotions that you experience during a launch. As the countdown advances, the sense of anticipation grows, a heady mix of excitement, nervousness and tension. A crowd of customers, investors and staff gathering to watch the launch in person, and millions watching around the world as the Arianespace and Thales Alenia Space teams go through their final preparations.

As the countdown reaches zero, you barely have time to register that we are definitely going to launch before the huge engines light and the Soyuz launch vehicle roars away from the tower, heading for orbit. Then an almighty rumble, the earth shaking, as the noise and vibration reaches you.

This second launch is so important for us as a company, enabling us to roll out services on a global basis, but also crucial for our customers. A number have already experienced the O3b service and have told us that what we are delivering to the market is game-changing. Now that we can deliver services globally, I am looking forward to hearing more and more of this kind of reaction! We have a unique capability - fibre performance by with the reach and flexibility of satellite. O3b has the potential to transform communities as we are doing today in the Cook Islands, in Papua New Guinea and in Timor Leste and our challenge now is to support our customers into service and deliver this same transformational capability globally.

This is our second successful launch but the sense of pride and achievement is just as strong as it was for the first. Our journey continues and I want to thank everyone who has been a part of the O3b story so far - our staff, investors, customers and partners. We raise a glass to you all!

O3b was founded with a vision that access to high speed connectivity was a right not a privilege. With this launch successfully completed, we are moving from vision to reality.